Why is human body temperature decreasing?

A new study by a team of scientists at Stanford Medical University shows that human body temperatures in the US have dropped over the past century.

By cross-checking multiple health records, the researchers concluded that the average body temperature of the 21st century was about 0.3 degrees Celsius lower in women and 0.6 degrees Celsius in men. compared to 19th century people.

In 1851, German physician Carl Reinhold August Wunderlich determined the average human temperature at 37 degrees Celsius. Since then, this temperature has been used so widely that it plays a role in determining the health of children. people.

The average human temperature is decreasing due to environmental factors.

However, this average temperature does not seem accurate over time as people have become colder for years.

Julie Parsonnet, Medical Professor at Stanford decided to find out why the human body is cooling off.

The team looked at temperature data from three historical periods. Including military service records, medical records and pensions of Union Army veterans during the American Civil War from 1826-1930. The second set of records is periodic health and nutrition surveys collected from 1971-1975. The final dataset came from adult patients of Standford Healh Care between 2007-2017.

A total of 677,423 temperature measurements were used for the calculation. As a result, 21st century men have an average body temperature of 0.6 degrees Celsius lower than those born in the early 19th century. Meanwhile, modern women have a decrease in body temperature of 0.3 degrees. C.

Thus, scientists found that humans have lost 0.3 degrees Celsius per century . However, because many factors influence body temperature, the team says that humans still don't need a new average body temperature measurement.

For reasons, scientists think that the body reduces its metabolic rate due to environmental factors that affect body temperature. One possibility is that improvements in public health over the past 200 years have reduced the incidence of inflammation, helping to promote better health. Combined with a more comfortable life in a stable environment, the body does not have to run at full capacity to keep the body warm. Therefore, it contributes to reducing the average human body temperature.

"The living environment is changing. Indoor temperatures, food and bacteria exposure cause us to really change physiologically," Parsonnet said.

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